SIX jockeys have partnered the winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Aintree Grand National in the same year, Tommy Cullinan, Gerry Wilson, Fred Winter, Tommy Carberry, John Burke and Jim Culloty.

Only one of the sextet, Clare-native Cullinan, holds the distinction of winning England’s two most prestigious chases and also the Champion Hurdle in the one year, achieving the triple crown feat in 1930.

Brown Tony (Champion Hurdle) and Easter Hero (Gold Cup), both trained by Welsh-native Jack Anthony, provided the first two legs of the Irish rider’s unique treble before Shaun Goilin, handled by Frank Hartigan from Cork, gave Cullinan Aintree glory and rich compensation for a second place effort in the Liverpool marathon two years earlier.

Tommy Cullinan was born in 1906 and reared at Feighmore House near Quin in Co Clare. His father, Frederick, was a major in the Boer War, serving in Ireland, and later was sheriff for the town of Ennis for 35 years. His mother was Frances Brown-Brady.

It was young Tommy’s uncle, Captain Brady-Brown, who provided the inspiration for him to pursue a career as a jockey. Brady-Brown was master of the Clare Hunt and met a sad end when suffering a heart attack during the Clare National at Clonmoney in 1937.

AMATEUR

Cullinan started race riding as an amateur in 1923 and won the Irish amateur jockeys’ championship in 1927. He also moved to England that year and turned professional in January, 1928, joining the stables of Frank Barbour.

The young jockey did not take long to make an impact in the paid ranks, winning the 1928 Irish Grand National on Don Sancho and being an unlucky second on Billy Barton in the Aintree equivalent in the same spring

Don Sancho was handled by respected English trainer Fred Withington, who had won the inaugural Cheltenham Gold Cup with Red Splash in 1924. He enjoyed five successes at the Cheltenham festival, including Don Sancho’s victory in the 1930 National Hunt Chase when partnered by Mr Jack Moloney.

Cullinan came tantalisingly close to making it a double Grand National triumph in 1928. In the Aintree renewal he partnered American challenger Billy Barton and the 33/1 chance was in front going to the last fence.

EXHAUSTION

However, with exhaustion slowing the leader down to a virtual crawl, he came down after clearing the final obstacle. A spectator came to the rider’s assistance, pushing him back on the horse only for the jockey to fall off the other side! Tipperary Tim, a 100/1 outsider, partnered by Mr Billy Dutton, was the only one of the 42 starters to put in a clear round and galloped past to win by a distance. The Clare jockey got back aboard Billy Barton at the second attempt to claim the runner-up spot.

The 1929 Aintree Grand National was again won by a 100/1 outsider, Gregalach, ridden by Bobby Everett, and even more remarkable was the fact that there were a record number of runners, 66 faced the starter. Easter Hero, a half-brother to Gregalach, was second in that National and the following year the very talented chaser would provide Tommy Cullinan with one third of his unique treble.

Rated as one of the best Gold Cup winners in the history of the race, the chesnut son of My Prince and Easter Week was bred by Frank King in Curraha, Co Meath before going on to become Britain’s most popular chaser during his career. Easter Hero was also given the tag of one of the best chasers not to win the Grand National. In 1928 a jumping mistake at the Chair fence caused mayhem and a number of other runners departed the race. He was runner-up the following year and an injury ruled him out of the race in 1930.

Jack Anthony’s outstanding jumper was just one of a number of big race winners sired by My Prince, dual Grand National winner Reynoldstown and other Aintree heroes, Royal Mail and Gregalach as well as Tom Dreaper’s legendary Gold Cup victor Prince Regent being other star progenies.

GOLD CUP

It was in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham that Easter Hero sparkled most, winning the blue riband race by 20 lengths in 1929. Dick Rees was in the saddle for the first of the two successes and Tommy Cullinan did the steering in 1930.

Our Tony delivered the first part of the treble and is one of only four four-year-olds to triumph in the Champion Hurdle. Trainer Jack Anthony was described as the Fred Winter of his generation, proving his worth, first as a jockey and then as a trainer.

Anthony was a Grand National winner in the saddle three times, in 1911 on the one-eyed Glenside, aboard Ally Sloper in 1915 and on Troytown in 1920. All three triumphs were recorded as an amateur rider, the Welshman turned professional soon after Troytown’s success and continued race riding up to 1927.

Jack was hopeful of completing a unique training treble in the 1930 Grand National but the third-placed Sir Lindsay’s jockey, Dudley Williams, was unlucky to lose an iron in the closing stages. Instead it was Tommy Cullinan who brought off the treble and, in a strange twist of fate, the man from Clare got the ride on winner Shaun Goilin because Easter Hero was ruled out due to injury.

Shaun Goilin (Irish for John The Fairy) was bred in Co Tipperary before being sold for 22 guineas as a two-year-old. The horse was trained for Aintree glory by Frank Hartigan, a native of Ballincollig, Co Cork who was born in 1880. Hartigan went to work with an uncle, John Hubert Moore at Lambourn as a teenager and was an amateur rider before becoming a trainer. He sent out nearly 2,000 winners during a lengthy career and among those who worked under him was highly successful dual purpose trainer Peter Easterby.

IRISH GELDING

A newspaper report of the 1930 Aintree Grand National stated: “At the last fence the leading three horses were almost in line but Sir Lindsay was tiring and as he blundered, his jockey had the misfortune to lose his irons. Then as Shaun Goilin and Melleray’s Belle fought out the finish, stride for stride, excited by the tense struggle, the seething thousands first hailed one as the winner, suddenly to change their mind and shout the name of the other horse. It was only in the last few strides that the great Irish gelding definitely established his superiority to win by a neck.”

The same report referred to “the superb horsemanship on the part of Tommy Cullinan’’. The winner went off at odds of 100/8 and carried 11st, completing the four a half miles over the daunting fences in 9mins, 40 secs. It was a proud day for Clare people and some 65 years later another jockey from the Banner county, Jason Titley, would taste similar glory when partnering Royal Athlete to victory in the Grand National.

The 1930 Aintree Grand National winner was a rare species as his sire was unknown. His dam, Golden Day, was out on grass in a paddock and according to a report: “In an adjoining field were a number of colts and one night a number of those rascals jumped the fence and the result was Shaun Goilin!”

In 1932 Shaun Goilin was again in the Grand National frame, finishing third to Forbra and Egremont with Dudley Edwards taking over from Cullinan in the saddle.

With his racing career in decline, Tommy Cullinan joined the British army later in the 1930s. He was a private in the anti-aircraft unit and was based at an RAF station in Oxford. On April 11th, 1940 while returning to the barracks after a night out with another former jockey, they were challenged by a sentry. Called three times to identify himself, the Clare-native did not respond and was fatally shot by the watchman who was subsequently exonerated in an inquiry.

It was a sad end for a man who was a sporting hero 10 years earlier. He was buried in Swindon.